Loch Tay ,Old Lawers Village,Dragons in Creiff and The Fortingall Yew Tree One of Europe's Oldest Trees (5000+ years old)
Greetings Travellers
Today we are going to take a look at a couple more ancient historic Scottish Landmarks.
In the video above we take a drive around Loch Tay and head down to Old Lawers village.
Along the way we learn some fascinating history about the area from renowned Scottish explorer and historian Tom Weir via archival footage of the area from the 1970s.
Yesterday I showed you guys the Old Church and Tower in Muthill which dates back as far as the mid 1100s.
A little way along the road from the village of Muthill we come to the town of Creiff where we stopped for lunch at the Quaich Café.
Creiff is about half way between Fife which is the area I live in and Loch Tay which is pretty much right in the centre of Scotland. The entire drive from Fife to Loch Tay is around 2 hours.
This makes Crieff the ideal place to stop and rest before continuing our journey into one of Scotland's most beautiful areas.
While wandering through the streets of Crieff I spotted a few Dragons and had to take these shots.... :)..
Ok time to move on.... as we approach the Loch Tay area the surrounding scenery becomes quite breath-taking.
Before heading down to the old ruins of Lawers village we spotted a craft shop where I guy is making ornaments from deer antlers.
Just across from the horn craft shop is a little river running down to the Loch..
A little further up the road we find the Ben Lawers Hotel which would be a good place to stay if you plan to explore the area and do some hill walking. Ben Lawers is directly across from this hotel, its the highest mountain in the southern part of the Scottish Highlands.
Its also the highest point of a long ridge that includes seven Munros and is the highest peak in Perthshire. Ben Lawers is the tenth highest Munro in Scotland. Munroe's are mountain's in Scotland over 3000 feet in height.
The hotel has a beer garden with some stunning views. I stopped for a quick pint of beer here and took in the beautiful scenery...
The beer garden is also home to some ducks...
The path down to Lawers village is on a steep incline which is easy going down but put a good bit of strain on my calf muscles and lower back when coming back up.
Heading down the road we are met with more photo opportunities in this spectacular landscape.
What remains of Lawers village are 2 ruined stone structures which were originally built in the 1600s and would have thatched roofs over earth floors.. The first is the house of The Lady of Lawers who was renowned for her psychic abilities or gift of the second sight.
The second structure was once a church. As it was being built The lady of Lawers made the prediction that the stones meant for the roof would never be used. The prediction came true and the stones were washed into the Loch during a storm.
The Lady of Lawers was buried somewhere in this area underneath this tree.
In the video above Tom Weir mentions that the Lady planted an ash tree in this area and was later buried underneath it.She warned that if the tree was ever cut down evil would be fall who ever cut it.In the 1800s the landowner cut it down and was later gored by his bull, the man who helped him lost his mind and ended up in a mental asylum.Even the horse that pulled away the cart carrying the timbers died inexplicably.
The area kinda spooks me out, I wouldn't want to be here alone or at night. There was once a small churchyard but all the grave markers are gone now. It creeps me out that there are people buried here including The Lady of Lawers.
Down by the lake side everything has an otherworldly sense of calmness...
Not far from Loch Tay lies the village of Fortingall which is home to one of Europe's oldest trees, The Fortingall Yew which is in the Fortingall Kirkyard.
As we approach the Yew tree the stones on the ground remind us just how long this tree has been here...
The stones directly under the tree make for particularly nice photographs due to these yellowed leaves and twigs that have fallen from the Yew.
The Yew is protected by this wall and fence. Its thought that it is planted on one of the most powerful leylines that runs through the length of Scotland. Over the millennia this site has been the site of many different fortifications and sites of worship.
Right next to the Yew trees is the grave of Reverend Duncan Macara who brought order and tranquillity to the area in the unsettled period which followed the Jacobite uprising of 1745.
Lets head back out of the Kirkyard and take a look around the village.
Right next to the Church and Yew tree we have the Fortingall Hotel.
Some of the cottages in the village have beautiful thatched roofs.
There is a stone circle in the field next to the community centre.
And another stone in the field across from the Yew tree which I believe is a grave marker for a mass grave of plague victim's.
Lets take one more look at the scenery surrounding the village before heading on.
On the way home we stopped briefly at The Birks of Aberfeldy. A place renowned for its woodland walks and waterfalls and also a favourite place of the poet Robert Burns.
We briefly stopped here to stretch our legs before heading home. I managed to get a few shots of one of the waterfalls.
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